


Rules

by mazabm



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Coping, Gen, Sibling Bonding, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-06
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-19 13:04:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16535117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mazabm/pseuds/mazabm
Summary: Summer and Morty have rules in place to hold each other accountable.The last one?  Don't ever pull a Rick, don't abandon your family.





	Rules

Maybe after the Citadel, or after one of those adventures or another, Morty and Summer make rules.  They sit on the roof outside of Summer’s room., staring at the stars when they come up with the plan, as a lab report.  It’s a way to make sure that they don’t become their parents, don’t become Rick most of all.

The first rule is easy for them, don’t use alcohol to fix their problems.

Their family has substance abuse issues, another additive problem to their already fucked up genes but Morty has seen firsthand what alcohol did to Rick, or what Rick did to himself using alcohol.  He’s been woken from his sleep too many times, disabled too many nitro-bombs, seen what Rick looks like when he cries and vomits all over him.

He hates it, hates Rick (not just for the alcohol, but for a lot of things) hates alcohol for making him that way.  It’s an easy decision on his part. He needs to be sober anyway if he’s going to survive more of Rick, he needs to be sober and competent and alive, 

Summer agreed.

For her, her mother is the main reason in her head.  Her poor fucked up mother trapped in a relationship she never wanted, with kids she never wanted to have, dreaming of worlds where she succeeds.   Alcohol is the way her mother destroys herself, an apple not falling too far from the tree. Summer knows how easy it would be for her to drink, her mother did it, Rick did it, but she looks at Morty and knows he’s right.  They can’t be them. 

She knows that if Rick’s smart genes went to anyone they went to her.  She’s nowhere on his level, no one is (no one but himself in infinite universes, like her first grandpa who didn’t let her go on adventures with him who rots in the backyard with her first Morty who probably wasn’t as fucked up as this one was and never will have the chance to be) This Morty she’s closer too, she sees how he's changing, he could give a few more years of this, few more years of barely surviving and she can see exactly where he’ll be, how ruthless, how unstoppable he’ll be. This is why the rules are necessary if she doesn’t save him from himself, who will be there to save her?

Summer opens a pack of cigarettes and they edit the rule in the future.

The second rule, both of them hesitate on.  No killing, unless absolutely necessary. 

Rick has been steadily destroying Morty’s morals or maybe the universe has been destroying them.  Maybe Rick is right, that the universes and their infinite realities have no real concept of right or wrong, that there is only survival.  Maybe it’s the hesitation that destroying his morals, where Morty tries to decide if this will be right, if this will be wrong, Rick nearly loses a hand, Summer nearly dies, he can’t afford to hesitate, he can’t afford to disobey Rick’s orders if he wants to survive but Rick’s orders don’t always seem right, they aren’t always right. 

But Rick doesn’t care about right, he cares about obedience, in getting what he came for, in winning.  (He cares about keeping himself alive, about getting out before his losses are too heavy) 

And Morty starting to think that way too, he starts only focusing on survival and 14 year olds shouldn’t have body counts, 14-year-olds shouldn't know the difference between laser guns, blasters, and AK-47s, shouldn’t know what burying themselves feels like, he shouldn’t know but he does and that’s why he believes in this rule, he can’t keep letting Rick, the universe ruin him, he can’t keep taking lives.   He’s going to keep himself and Summer alive but that’s where his exceptions end. Let Rick destroy himself, but he will destroy not Morty, not anymore.

For Summer, there is already an exception.  She is all common sense when it comes to her morals, Morty is a little idealistic in his pursuit but for her, it is about staying alive, about keeping her family alive, and together.  But she knows what it feels like to let go, to not worry about it, and she knows how much destruction she can cause. She wonders if that’s her if there is another Summer out there who knows the heady feeling of gunning down enemies, of destroying lives.  

She remembers being trapped inside watching as people were destroyed for her safety and she figured then it wasn’t worth it, but that was then, and she’s been through a lot.  She’s seen other Summers and lives where she didn’t exist, so she needs to make sure that she survives this reality. 

However, looking at the look in Morty’s eyes, knowing that his hands hold so much blood (for him, by him, for them) she knows he needs this rule and her to hold him accountable.  She can be firm on this for him, he needs her to be.

Morty destroys an alien base to save Rick and they edit the rule.

The 3rd rule is simple for Summer looking at their parents, don’t pull a Jerry, don’t trap people, don’t get trapped.  

For Summer, that means being far more careful with her relationships, she becomes distant (Tammy had been her friend for months and shot at her without blinking), she closes herself off, she studies with boys she’s interested in, but she doesn’t bring them home anymore, she doesn’t go further than kissing, it  hurts less when they leave. She’s young, she doesn’t need them, she’s not going to be Jerry or Beth and feel trapped with people she doesn’t love. 

She wants her whole life so maybe for her, the rule is, only stay with who you love, and she doesn’t love any of them.  She loves her family and for once, she’s content with that.

For Morty, he doesn’t really understand it that way, he just knows he never wants to be as unhappy as their parents were in their relationships, if that means no attachments, that maybe that’s what he has to do.  

Something happened to Rick to ruin the way he opened himself up to people and Morty doesn’t want it to happen to him, he’s just going to start closing himself off and hope for the best. 

Summer meets a girl who seemingly understands her and they edit the rule.  

The last rule is needed, and they shake hands on it

Don’t pull a Rick, no abandoning the family.  

When the Galactic Federation comes back into their lives, when the Citadel tries to fuck them over, every time Morty holds the portal gun in his hand he knows he could disappear to one of those universes where Rick never comes back, he knows he could take Summer with him but this universe (while not his originally his) is his now and this Summer is his Summer now and he's never going to abandon her, ever.  

Is it abandoning or running away, either way, their family has problems with it.   

Summer isn’t really sure the answer to that question but she’s here now, she exists in this universe and she’ll survive it, never running away.  She has Morty, and they have Rick and they aren’t running away or abandoning their family as he did.

They have rules, to keep them like them.  And if they ever go too far they will edit the rules but for right now, the rules are all they have that keeps them better than Rick, then their parents.  That is what matters. 

They’re gonna be able to be happy because they will protect each other from the world, from what they could become. Morty leans against Summer on that roof and she ruffles his head and they can’t see it but Rick is standing out his garage, looking at them, his grandchildren, knowing that they are trying to avoid being him and wishing them the best of luck. 

**Author's Note:**

> Finally all caught up with Rick and Morty and this has been sitting with me.


End file.
